Democratic Governor Faces Pushback From Lynching Research Commission Over Reparations Stance

Members of the Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission pushed back against Gov. Wes Moore’s objection to creating a reparations commission, asserting that their work ties directly to the immediate action he calls for.

“I mean, we’re doing it,” Nicholas M. Creary, a member of the commission, told Fox News Digital.

“If it goes according to plan. We’re going to be getting draft legislation introduced into session this year. So whether he thinks we need to talk about it or do more, my guess is that the reparations commission isn’t just going to necessarily study, but they’re also going to make recommendations for things to do,” Creary added.

The Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission released its final report last month after being established in 2019. The report is described as the first state-sponsored effort in the United States to investigate, document and “reckon with the history of racial terror lynching within its own borders.”

Moore vetoed an effort to establish the Maryland Reparations Commission. His reasoning for vetoing the commission stemmed from a need for immediate action. The governor penned a letter stating that it was a “difficult decision” and also that “now is not the time for another study.”

In an interview with “The Breakfast Club’s” Charlamagne tha God, Moore explained that he is a “person of action.”

“Exactly. I mean, listen, what I said was, ‘I’m a person of action. I don’t need more studies.’ I’m like, ‘We’ve done four studies over the past 20 years on similar types of elements,'” Moore said in October. “By the way, one of which my wife worked on. And, so, when we’re now talking about doing a two-year study on something that I already know the answer to, I’m like, ‘What are we studying?’”

The governor’s veto was overridden by state lawmakers. The Maryland Reparations Commission would appoint 23 members to assess local, state and federal policies from the Reconstruction and the Jim Crow eras. The commission will recommend reparations ranging from cash compensation to a statement of apology.

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In their report, the commission concluded that state officials and institutions were complicit in 38 lynchings that followed the Civil War and that the perpetrators were never held accountable in any of the deaths. Among 84 recommendations, the group proposed that state leaders atone for the past through cash payments. The commission recommended that $100,000 per person be issued to descendants of lynching victims.

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